Juan Manuel Marquez Owns Manny Pacquiao: Paq Must Man Up and Face Him

For anyone who hasn't heard, Manny plans to do a Mayweather and quit the sport soon, rather than risk fighting on and possibly losing.

He's claimed he will fight a few more times. 90 percent of Pacquiao's claims directly contradict each other, so whether this is true, is anyone's guess.

This is the guy who ruined the biggest fight of all time, by pulling out over drug testing rules, which he now claims are fine, and "good for the sport".

Whether he's worked out a way to do his "training" in less than 14 days, or he ruined the fight on purpose, is anyone's guess, but they're trying hard to make the fight as I type this.

This is my main problem.

Make no mistake. Juan Manuel Marquez OWNS Manny Pacquiao.

Manny will retire in the knowledge that he never once got the better of Marquez in the ring. In fact, his actions regarding Marquez will probably go down in the annuls of boxing as the biggest ducking session of all time.

It will always be, "yeah, but, he wasn't even as good as Marquez", I assure you.

How you can have WWF fans, who've watched the sport for two years, claiming the guy is in the all time top 10, when he's not even a better fighter than Marquez, is anyone's guess.

Would a Sugar Ray Leonard or Roberto Duran have been so comprehensively outboxed by that level of fighter? Yeah, dream on.

Would Floyd Mayweather have done anything but school guys of the level of Marquez or Morales? I couldn't see either winning more than three rounds against the guy, at any weight, at any time in their careers.

Manny's ducking of Marquez has been a real blight on his career. You have to feel sorry for Juan. He's been treated terribly.

Taking into account most Pacquiao fans were still probably watching WWF at this time, and had no interest in boxing, I thought I'd better inform you what actually happened with these guys.

They originally fought in 2004. Marquez was 29. Pacquiao 25.

Aside from the first round, Pacquiao arguably didn't win another. Marquez landed more punches, power punches, and most pundits had him winning the fight by around three rounds. HBO said he won it by three.

This matters little when Bob Arum is your promoter. At a time when he was at the peak of his alleged bout fixing period. He was frequently investigated by the FBI during this time.

So of course, Manny was given a draw. Giving everyone in boxing a slight sickly feeling.

The world called for an immediate re-match. Just like Mayweather/Castillo a few years earlier. Unfortunately, Pacquiao doesn't like rematches if he has trouble in a fight. He made a name in the lower weights running away from guys who beat him, or caused him trouble.

In fact he never rematched, or beat anyone who gave him a loss or draw, until 2006.

So Pacquiao just flat out ran.

He refused the fight. Even though it was the biggest bout in the division. He didn't just run for a few months. He ran for 5 years.

What a disgraceful display of cowardice by the divisional no.1. You draw a fight, against the no. 2, and you wait five years for the rematch?

Why did he make the guy wait five years? As Marquez is five years older than Pacquiao, and hence he thought it would be an easier fight if he faced the guy when he was in his mid 30s.

If Manny had been a real champion, and taken an immediate rematch against a 30-year old Marquez, he knew full well he'd get whupped.

Not even Vegas is going to gift you two decisions in a short period. They're not that dumb.

So he waits until Marquez is 34, five years later, and finally agrees to take the fight.

Hey, the guy's 34 now, how hard can he be?

What happens in the rematch? Even though Pacquiao was the much bigger, heavier, younger opponent (he was 147 pounds in ring that night)?

The exact same thing.

He has a good first two rounds, and then loses every other one. Marquez owns Pacquiao yet again. He makes him look like an amateur. He very nearly knocks him out.

And that's the problem in boxing, when you're facing a big name, who's fighting for Arum. You quite literally need to knock them out to be guaranteed a decision.

Marquez outlanded Pacquiao in every single punch conceivable. Both in jabs, short range shots, mid range shots, power shots. He was also far more accurate.

Unbelievably, after the 4th round, EVERY round was scored dead even by two of the judges. How anyone can watch some of these rounds (as I said, in a couple, Manny is in serious danger of being stopped) and call them even is testament to how suspect boxing can be.

HBO called the decision "highway robbery". They had him winning by three rounds. Most of boxing were crying "fix". Just an example of boxing giving a decision to the most marketable fighter.

Either way, this is Manny's problem.

He may well have a win technically. But everyone in boxing counts those decisions as tainted. And most people recognise the fact that he was well and truly owned by Marquez in both fights.

One on one, Marquez is a better fighter. Significantly better.

Golden Boy Promotions offered Pacquiao a guaranteed $10 million (which would have been, by far, a career high at that time) for an immediate rematch.

Of course, Pacquiao wimped out, yet again. Probably on the advice of Roach.

"This business is over". What a cowardly response. You get a lucky draw, and a lucky win against a guy, and you deny the guy a deciding fight, as you know you'll lose.

So Pacquiao turns down $10 million for Marquez, and takes $2 million to take on David Diaz instead.

My oh my.

And he's been running ever since. Constantly refusing big fights against guys who can move, slip punches, and counter, to face hand picked brawlers, who won't cause him these types of problems.

Unless Manny mans up, and faces Marquez, at a time when he's still a top fighter (the next year) it will always be a blight on his career.

He will not only be guilty of cowardice, and ducking the guy, but Marquez will always be rememebered as "The Man Who Owned Manny Pacquiao."